Forget Me Not
Year: 2011
Director: Tyler Oliver
Stars: Carly Schroeder, Cody Liney, Micah Alberti
Studio: Phase 4 Films
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 102 Mins

Yet, another horror film has come across my desk. When reading the press info for this film, I wasn’t interested at first considering that some of the main cast have worked on shows like “Hanna Montana” “Camp Rock 2” and “Lizzy McGuire”. Usually that’s a turn off for me, since I personally despise shows like those. But when seeing the trailer for “Forget Me Not”, it looked interesting enough to warrant a review.

The film is about a young woman (Carly Schroeder), who has everything going for her.. She is popular in school and is getting ready to go off to college. During her graduation weekend, she sets off with her friends to have fun and enjoy life before going off to college. But soon, her friends start disappearing without a trace. She discovers that her and her friends have woken up a vengeful spirit that they’ve wronged, a long time ago. As she begins to lose her sanity, she has to unlock a dark secret from her past that threatening to destroy her and those around her.

Normally when I’m watching low budget horror films, I go into the film expecting the worse. There have been films that were just down right awful and there are films that surprise me. I was expecting the worse here, but “Forget Me Not” is one of those film that films that surprised me.

One of the things that I liked about this film, the way that director Tyler Oliver makes predictable material interesting enough that your hooked. The reason he does that so well, the atmosphere and action was intense. I liked, how Oliver decided to make the spirits look menacing. He does very good job creating that, from the way that move to the overall look. It makes the predictable scenes scary and make you forget about that flaw that this film has. Also by doing that, it helps the film’s dark gloomy look and tone. The action scenes were also what helps make this film succeed. Oliver does a very good job keeping you on that ride though the entire film. The scenes were intense enough and made sense that it covered up the film’s flaw.

The other thing that I liked about this film, the fact that the performances were surprising good. I was going into this movie thinking that this was going to be a long film with horrible acting, since most of the cast are often seen on the Disney Channel. Oliver does a good job making the performances to fit with the film’s tone. He also does a good job developing chemistry between the actors. It’s something that’s needed in a supernatural horror film. If it isn’t there, then the film becomes boring and dull real fast.

The screenplay, which Oliver wrote along with co-producer Jamieson Stern was for the most part predictable. Still, there was enough effective elements that kept the story interesting enough to make it work. One of the things that they do well, they created elements that worked very well. For example, when a character is killed off here. Not only did the character die, their existence was completely erased and only the main character knows that the person existed. That aspect was thought out very well, as it made me invested in the story.

Even though “Forget Me Not” may seem like a formulaic film, the better than expected direction and the effective elements keeps this film interesting and intense.

Review Rating: Three and a Half Stars.

Phase 4 Films recently send us over a copy of their upcoming release "Forget Me Not", which hit DVD shelves on May 24th, but Film Arcade.net is giving away a copy to one lucky reader.


Plot Synopsis:

It's graduation weekend, and Sandy Channing, the popular class president of her small-town high school, should be enjoying the time of her life. But when her friends start disappearing, Sandy discovers they have unwittingly awakened the vengeful spirit of a girl they wronged long ago. Fighting for her sanity and her life, Sandy must unlock a dark secret from her own past before it's too late.

The film stars Cody Linley ("Hannah Montana," "Dancing with the Stars," Cheaper by the Dozen), Carly Schroeder (Mean Creek, Firewall, "Lizzy McGuire"), Chloe Bridges (Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, The Longshots)

"Forget Me Not": Official Trailer



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Contest Ends: May 25th, 2011.

One entry per person and open to US Residents. Film Arcade writers are not eligible.